Trump denies trying to shut down SNL then calls it illegal campaign contribution

Donald Trump has issued a tersely-worded denial that he used his office to try and take Saturday Night Live off the air in revenge for mocking him.

His statement, which was part denial, part performance review of Alec Baldwin, came in response to a story in The Daily Beast claiming Mr Trump told his lawyers to lean on the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission in the hopes they could probe or mitigate SNL and other late-night satirists and comedians like Jimmy Kimmel.

“The story that I asked the Department of Justice to go after ratings-challenged (without Trump!) Saturday Night Live, and other late-night Losers, is total Fake News,” Mr Trump said in the statement.